Novacane
by Childish Gambino
Summary: Title is from a song. Yes, it's spelled wrong. Kurt is a surgeon in NYC who has dealt with a lot in his job making him reserved. Can the new pediatrician that just transferred bring him out his shell?
1. Prologue

**A/N: I'm gonna let you know right now if anyone reads this, all I know about medical terms and procedures is from Scrubs and if Jack had to go into Doctor mode on Lost. I'll google some stuff but don't expect it to be super detailed. Story time now. For time purposes I read it usually take about 15 years to complete everything but I'm going to make it 10. Kurt is 33 and Blaine is 32.**

* * *

If you had asked Kurt Hummel what he wanted to be when he was 17 and still had dreams of Broadway he would have laughed in your face if you told him he would be a surgeon at Beth Israel hospital. Some dreams come true, like for his friends Rachel Berry and Mercedes Jones who are a professional Broadway star and a Grammy nominated artist respectively. Some don't, like for Kurt Hummel and Santana Lopez who went into a field of medicine and a nursing degree.

Kurt did try for Broadway at first; he got a degree at NYADA and everything. But it never took off from there. He never got any callbacks and when that started happening he did try to write his own roles like his father suggested but he could never find the spark to think of a storyline. So with nobody looking for a 'Kurt Hummel' type he took some time to figure out what he wanted to do. While he loved fashion and liked to design clothes he had no passion to do it professionally. When he was younger after his mom passed away from a car crash he had a dream to be whatever it was the people did that tried to save her. It lasted about 2 weeks. He later found out those people were also called surgeons. He always did admire them and it would be a respectable job. He got his laptop out and researched some schools for it and then called his dad to ask his opinion on it, this was a big deal after all and it needed the assistance of his father. Burt told Kurt that if it was something that would really make him happy he should try it, go for a year see if you like it. First Kurt had to get an undergraduate degree in Science. He worked hard, did summer and winter classes and got his degree in three years. He found he really liked it so it wasn't strenuous or boring work, most of the time. Next he applied to NYU Langone Medical Center for a medical degree in Surgery. With financial aid and a pell grant he only had to pay about $2,000 out of pocket, which his dad had helped him with, and they paid together with the money Kurt had saved from previous jobs. And finally came Residency, which was another 5 years.

It took a long,_ long_ time of hard work, weekends spent studying instead of partying, and lots of caffeine but Kurt graduated in the top 10 in his class with a degree as a General Surgeon. He got a job at Beth Israel about 4 months later and everything was good for a year or so. He had a lot of successful surgeries and made it a habit to get to know his patients. But a good period of time is always followed by a bad. Kurt and his team went through a period of time where 7 patients of theirs in a row flat-lined. It was beyond devastating. Kurt had to take time off from work and do therapy. He vowed to never get close to patients again; it was too much if something happened to them, especially a little kid, which was one of the 7 patients who flat-lined, during that bad time. So Kurt became distant at his work place, reserved, only talking about the best way to help patients. But sometimes the best way is with a simple conversation. The only person he talked to at work was Santana who had transferred from St. Luke's because she had problems with the other nurses. Over the years she had mellowed out but could still get in your face if need be which was what happened at St. Luke's resulting in the transfer.

Kurt still loved his job but he wasn't as in love with it as he once was. No matter how much you prepare for it and are told about it death just hits people in different ways. And for Kurt it hit him a lot harder than he thought.

* * *

Kurt woke up refreshed on Thursday. He had the day off yesterday to prepare him for the double shift he had today. He was to go in at 5 p.m. and get off at 9 a.m. on Friday. He got up and brushed his teeth then moved to shower. He dressed comfortably and grabbed his crocs and put them in his book bag and left to go get some breakfast, even though it was lunch time, feeling to lazy to make himself some. He lived in Tribeca, which was conveniently not far at all from his work place. He walked their most days so after he got his first meal of the day consisting of egg whites and turkey bacon and a little mozzarella with a coffee he walked to work while eating on the way.

He was about 15 minutes early so he headed over to the nurses station to see if Santana was in and walked over to her when he saw she was.

"Hey Hummel," she said when she saw him.

"Hey, how are you?"

"OK, tired. I'm with you tonight on your double so I expects you to fetch me coffee."

"OK," he said with a small smile, "Hey, how's Brittany, she hasn't stopped by in a while."

"She's good, you should come over one day. We could have dinner or whatever it is adults do for fun."

"Maybe."

"Did you hear about the new pediatrician, he's delicious, you should tap that."

"Watch out Santana, your straightness is showing, and you know I don't associate with anyone at work besides you," he said with a frown. She was always trying to get him to be back how he used to be.

"Shame," she said disappointed. "Well he's also working a night shift tonight, you'll probably run into him. Kurt I really wish you would talk mo-."

"Save it Santana, it's not going to happen," he said harshly and she glared at him. "Just leave it, please, it's easier like this. I have to go get my scrubs on, dinner later?" Dinner would consist of the crappy café they had that had good food rarely.

"Sure. Later."

It was a slow day; no surgeries to be done as of yet, nobody to talk too, which was his fault. Kurt was extremely bored. He left to walk around for a little. He made sure his beeper was on in case something came up and walked to the fourth floor, which had the vending machine with the candy Kurt actually liked. He went to pull out his wallet and groaned when he realized he forgot to take it out of his jeans when he changed into his scrubs.

"Did the vending machine do something to offend you?"

Kurt turned around to see a man a little shorter than himself that he had never seen before. He furrowed his eyebrows, "No. Why?"

"Well you were glaring at it like it just told you the worst news you could ever hear or something," he said with a smile.

Kurt didn't even realize that he had done that, "Oh, no I just realized that I forgot my wallet in my locker."

"Here," the man said and pulled out a dollar and handed it to Kurt.

"What? No, it's fine, I'll just get something later."

"Why," he said with a laugh, "It's just a dollar, seriously take it," he said and grabbed Kurt's hand and put it in his palm.

"Thank you…"

"Blaine," he said with a grin.

"Thanks Blaine," he said as he inserted the dollar and punched in the code for a Reese's Pieces', his personal weakness and turned to leave to head back upstairs.

"Hey, don't I get a name," he heard Blaine shout.

"No," he said without turning and walking into the stairway.

* * *

**A/N: That's chapter one. Chapter two is done, I just need to go over it, expect it Sunday if anyone is reading this. Read and review?**


	2. Introductions

**A/N: Wow! This got a lot more feedback then I thought it would. Thank you so much! **

**The only members of the New Directions that went to McKinnely in this verse are Kurt, Santana, Rachel, Mercedes, Sam, Artie, Finn, Puck and Quinn.**

**I forgot to mention the title is from a song by Frank Ocean called Novacane. It's not relevant to the fic but I was just trying to find a title so I scrolled through my itunes and saw it and was like well that _is_ a medical term. **

**Ohh, also I don't own Glee or the song Novacane. **

* * *

Blaine Anderson was fresh off a new start after leaving Florida when the hospital he worked at was shut down. He had offers from other hospitals in the state but couldn't stand the _drag_ of Florida. It was consistently boring, and even though his job didn't leave him with a lot of time to do much, whenever he did something it was just too much with the heat and everything seeming boring in minutes. So after a few phone interviews he landed himself a job at Beth Israel a few weeks ago and today was his first day.

He found a nice apartment in Chelsea that was a little cheaper than most apartments in the area but it was also substantially smaller; Blaine thought it was perfect for him, he didn't need a lot of room just a kitchen, bathroom and enough room for his Mac, TV and bed, and he was OK.

Blaine was nervous, a new job and starting off with a double shift was something no one looked forward too. He had caught a 24-hour bug, most likely from that Chinese he ordered, and actually had to miss his first day even though he insisted on coming in, but that would have been even worse on his part, so now he was making it up with a double. Blaine moved around his apartment and got his small bag ready, packed with his usual on an over-night shift, his iPod since nights were usually slower, well at least back in Florida they were; unless it was a weekend, a book, and some bathroom necessities.

He walked to the bus stop and was at the hospital in 15 minutes. He met with the head of his department and she introduced him to the other staff of the pediatrics' unit. They made small talk before everyone else had to go back to work. Blaine went to change into his scrubs and was to shadow a doctor named Mike Chang who was very easy going and tried to help Blaine settle in as comfortably as possible.

At around 7:30 they got a 15-minute break and Blaine headed to the vending machines to get something to snack on until they were able to go get dinner at around 9:30. He saw a man, a little taller than himself, with coiffed hair staring, no _glaring_ at the Vending Machine wearing a pair of green scrubs. Blaine smiled a little and thought the site was rather cute before speaking to the man.

Suffice to say that encounter did _not_ go the way Blaine imagined it to go. He was curious about the standoffish man with the amazing blue/green eyes. He ate his M&M's quickly before finding Mike sitting in one of the lounge chairs and walked over to him.

"So, it looks like we're off the hook for a little," Mike said when Blaine sat down.

"Cool," he said as he drained the rest of the candy and threw it into the garbage next to him. "Hey this is going to be really vague but do you know anyone that works here that is like really pale, coiffed hair, kinda tall?"

Mike thought about it for a moment. "I think you're talking about Hummel. Why?"

"I ran into him at the vending machine. I gave him a dollar. He seemed kind of standoffish."

"Definitely Hummel then. He doesn't talk to anyone much, except Santana. No idea why."

Blaine was even more intrigued now. _Well at least it wasn't just to me that he's like that too, _Blaine thought as he continued talking to Mike.

* * *

It was now dinnertime and Blaine and Mike made their way to the café. In the past two hours all they got were a kid with an ear infection and a kid who broke his arm playing in the park. They both ordered sandwiches and sat down at the relatively empty café.

"Most people bring their own food to eat," Mike informed him. Blaine took a bite of his sandwich and found out why. It wasn't bad per se; it just wasn't worth the $10. He looked around and saw a slightly older man sipping a coffee and reading a paper, a tired looking group of friends lounging around with plates scattered around their table, and a very pretty Hispanic woman scrolling through her phone with a salad in front of her.

Mike was telling Blaine about some of his crazier encounters in the hospital when he heard the door open and looked up to see the man from earlier. _Hummel_, he remembered Mike say. He zoned out of the conversation and watched him walk over and sit down with the pretty Hispanic woman.

"You need a napkin for your drools man?" Mike asked snapping him back into reality.

"That's the guy I told you about."

"Yeah, that's Kurt."

_Kurt,_ not a name he heard often, or you know, _ever. _It suited him he thought as he glanced at him again and saw he had a small smile as his lady friend told him a story or something.

"Shit, Blaine I gotta take this call. You have to be back by 10:30 so I'll see you upstairs, this might take a while," Mike said and hurriedly left.

Blaine finished his less than stellar sandwich and got up to throw it away at the same time the lady Kurt was sitting with got up to throw her salad bowl away.

"Hey, you the new guy?" she asked glancing at him.

"Um yeah. Blaine," he said with a smile.

"Santana. You look bored without your friend, if you still have time you can sit with us," she said pointing over at Kurt who looked less than pleased with that idea.

"Oh no, I mean I don't want to impose."

"You work here too, kind of hard to impose on that."

Blaine didn't know how to respond to that so he followed her back to her table. He sat down next to her because he figured Kurt would look even more displeased if he sat next to him.

"So newbie, where are you from?" Santana asked as Kurt went back to eating his food.

"I just transferred from Florida. My hospital shut down and I wanted a fresh start."

"Cool, I mean not that your hospital shut down, but that you're here now. This place was lacking in new people and I was getting sick of all the familiar faces," she said with a laugh.

"Glad to help?"

"OK boys, I have to get back upstairs," she said and gave Kurt a warning look as he sighed and nodded. She smiled at him, then at Blaine, and left.

"You know I never did get that name," Blaine said, turning to Kurt, even though he did know it.

"Kurt," he said shortly and finished his parfait. "Pleasure, I'm sure."

"Have you always lived in New York?"

Kurt looked at him and probably realized Blaine wasn't going to stop trying to ask him questions and decided to just answer them. "No. Ohio actually."

"That's…cool? No, probably not."

"It wasn't."

Blaine waited to see if Kurt would say anything else and when he didn't he took it upon himself to continue talking. "I'm from Boston, you probably don't care though," Blaine said with a smile.

Kurt sighed. "Look, Blaine was it?" he asked and continued when Blaine nodded, "No offense, you seem like a nice guy and all but I don't really talk to my co-workers."

"Why?"

"None of your business. Now if you'll excuse me I have to get back to work. Thanks for the dollar again," he said and slid him a dollar before quickly getting up to leave.

"You're welcome," Blaine muttered to himself as Kurt left. Kurt Hummel was one of the most interesting guys Blaine had ever met and he had only talked to him for about 10 minutes. He wanted to know what made him so reserved and wondered if he would be able to get to know him enough to find out.

He went back upstairs to find Mike looking exhausted with his phone dangling in his hand.

"Are you OK?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah, my wife is staying with her mother and is extremely bored. She's been there for two weeks and is getting home sick and sick of her mother. But anyway, lets go make some more rounds," he said and they got up.

When his shift finally ended the next day Blaine caught a cab home and promptly collapsed in his bed and was knocked out within minutes.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you're enjoying so far. Reviews make everything better so do that please :].**


	3. Amsterdam's

Blaine hadn't spoken to Kurt for another few weeks after their talk, if you could call it that, in the café. He saw him around but he was either rushing to help a kid that was just brought in or Kurt was rushing into surgery. He saw him on break once but Kurt blew him off again from trying to start a conversation and avoided him every time he saw him. Blaine had never wanted to get to know someone else as bad as he did with Kurt.

It was now about two weeks into summer a.k.a when kids get the most injuries from playing in the park all day or whatever it is kids are doing for fun now. From many, _many, _broken bones to really bad scrapes or cuts they had already seen a lot. And there was still 2 months left of summer.

_Well at least I'm never bored,_ Blaine thought as he finished cleaning up a kids cut up leg. She fell playing kickball after slipping on a puddle of water. Blaine gave the parents the form to get the cream they needed to keep it from scarring and with a final smile left the room.

He caught up with Mike and they made their way to one of the kids that had been in here for almost a week already. They discovered a tumor after his parents had said he had been having massive headaches for weeks on top of numbness in his fingers. They did a CAT scan and found that the tumor was benign luckily. They got him into surgery quickly and removed it and now he's in the process of recovery and double-checking for any more tumors.

"What's up Avery? How are you doing today?" Blaine asked the 12-year old.

"I'm good. Bored, I want to go and play outside already," he said as he quickly looked back and forth from Blaine and Mike to the small TV.

"Well, luckily for you, you should be out of here within the next few days. What are you watching?" Mike asked and glanced at the TV seeing a commercial.

"The Yankee game. They're winning 3-1," he said excitedly as the game came back on the screen after the commercials ended.

"You a big baseball fan?" Blaine asked with a smile.

"Yeah. I want to play for them when I get older. I'm going to be the first to break A-Rod's record after he breaks it himself," he said determinedly.

"I'm sure you will. And when you get into the Big's you make sure you remember to hook us up with some tickets. We'll be back later, OK Avery. You know what to do if anything starts bothering you, right?" Blaine asked.

Avery rolled his eyes and pointed to the button in back of him, "You always ask me that."

"Just doing my job, buddy. See you later," Blaine said as he and Mike excited the room and made their way to the next patient.

When their shift ended Mike and Blaine walked back to their lockers to change out of their scrubs.

"Hey man, what are you doing tonight? On Fridays we usually go to a bar a couple of blocks away for happy hour, you want to come?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, I can use a few brewskies."

"Cool, it's like the hangout for all the staff here so you'll probably see some familiar faces."

There was only one familiar face Blaine wanted to see but he didn't say that as he followed Mike outside and to the bar.

* * *

Kurt luckily only had to do one surgery today for appendicitis and he was in the process of changing out of his scrubs when Santana walked in already in her non-work clothes.

"Santana, jeez do you mind?" Kurt said as he quickly pulled on his jeans and shirt.

"What, it's not like you had the goods out. Shame. Should've come in sooner. Anyways hurry up we're going to Amsterdam's tonight."

"How thoughtful of you to ask me my opinion of this beforehand."

"Like you were doing anything important tonight. Come on, you haven't gone in ages and Brittany is coming as well and she misses you."

"Fine, lets go."

Amsterdam's was a Bar and Billiards club 11th street and 3rd Ave. Perfect for winding down after a long day. They had good food, an assortment of bar games to play and good drinks. They walked over to a booth and Santana texted Brittany where they were so she could meet them when she got there.

"I'm buying first round. What do you want?" Santana asked.

"Gin and tonic please."

Santana left to buy the drinks and spotted Mike at the bar with the newbie. She ordered her drinks and told the bartender she'd be over there and pointed to where Mike was and walked over to them.

"Hey Mike. Newbie," she said. She forgot Blaine's name the second time she ran into him and called him Newbie and it just stuck.

"Hi Santana," Blaine said as he took a sip of his beer.

The bartender brought over Santana's drinks and she started up a tab with him.

"You guys want to sit with us?" she asked and Blaine looked over to Mike who nodded so they followed her. Blaine contained his smile when he saw Kurt at the booth they walked up to and slid in next to him.

"Hi Kurt," he said with a smile and Kurt nodded at him stiffly and took his drink. He nodded at Mike as well.

"How was your guys day at work?" Mike asked.

"It was OK. Kurt and I only had a guy with appendicitis, so nothing to spectacular. How about you?"

"Just a bunch of really adventurous kids whose adventures landed them in the hospital. A whole bunch of nasty scrapes and one broken foot."

"Hey Santana, is Brittany coming?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, she's on her way now."

"Who's Brittany?" Blaine asked.

"My girlfriend," Santana said and looked at Blaine to see if there was a problem. He smiled and asked Mike how they knew each other.

"We actually went to the same college. We lost touch but I ran into her when she was visiting Santana at the hospital one day."

"Small world," Blaine said as Santana excused herself to meet Brittany outside.

Mike drained the rest of his beer and asked if anybody else wanted anything before he went to the bar. Kurt drained his drink as well and pulled out $10 to give to Mike but he shook him off and left.

"I haven't really seen you around in a while," Blaine said.

"I didn't realize you were looking around for me," Kurt said.

"Would that be a bad thing? If I was?"

Kurt sighed. "Didn't I already mention I didn't talk much with co-workers?"

"Yes. I choose to ignore that."

"OK. So I'm going to choose to ignore you."

"That's not going to stop me," Blaine said with a grin. "OK, you sit there and I'll just continue to talk."

"You're ridiculous."

"You're not ignoring me."

Kurt rolled his eyes as Blaine continued to talk. "I thought New York would be a lot like California in the summer, but oh my god, this heat is really unbearable. Humidity really is a terrible thing, is it not?"

Kurt ignored his question and looked to the bar and relaxed when he saw Mike walking back with their drinks.

"Here you go Kurt. I'm gonna go play some pool. I'll be back in a few," he said and left towards the billiards table.

"Why would it be such a bad thing to talk to me? Or anyone at work?"

"Do you ever shut up?" Kurt asked as he took a gulp from his drink. The burn felt nice and was fading the more he drank. It had been a while since he came to the bar after work and he hadn't really drank in a few months and he didn't have to work tomorrow so he planned to get drunk.

"No."

"Figures."

Kurt pulled out his phone to text Santana and ask where she was and she texted back saying she was at the bar with Brittany.

"Can't get Santana to your rescue?" Blaine asked with a grin.

"Unfortunately not."

"I guess you're stuck with me for a little longer then. So what school did you go to?"

Kurt wanted to groan in frustration. Blaine just did not _stop._ "NYU," he finally said after a while. Might as well just talk since it seemed like Blaine wouldn't give up.

"I almost went there as well but my brother convinced me to go to Stanford so we could spend more time together, and well it was Stanford."

"Cool," Kurt said uninterestedly. He glanced up and saw Santana finally walking towards them with Brittany.

"Hey dolphin," she said when she saw Kurt and kissed him on the cheek. She nodded to Blaine who smiled in return.

"Hey Britt. How are you? Any tours coming up?" Kurt said with a fond smile. Brittany always had a fond spot in his heart. Her ability to find good in any situation and her unintentional quips always put a smile on his face.

"Good. Yeah, I'm going on tour with Rihanna," she said.

"Cool. I'm sure you'll have a blast on stage with her."

"No, only dancing. Can we go play darts?" she asked Santana who nodded. They got up to leave much to Kurt's dismay of being left alone with Blaine once again.

"Alone again," Blaine said.

"Joy," Kurt said and finished his drink. "Do you want another beer?" Kurt asked and left when Blaine nodded to go get the drinks. He ordered the drinks once the bartender came over to him and sat down at a stool to wait for them. He got a text from Santana telling him to be civil to Blaine and he sighed as he read it. Blaine was annoying, no question about that, but he was also handsome and extremely nice. _Would it really be so bad to just talk with him? We're not at work and its not like he's going to stop, _Kurt thought as he got the drinks and made his way back to the table that Blaine occupied.

"Here," he said and handed him the beer as he slid in to his seat.

"Thanks," he said and took a sip before setting his beer down. "Did you always want to be a surgeon?"

"No." Kurt replied hesitantly.

"What did you want to do before?"

Kurt didn't reply and instead took a drink from his gin and tonic. The alcohol was working its way into his system already. _I should probably get some food,_ he thought. He spotted a waitress and got her attention and ordered a burger. Blaine ordered some wings and she left to place the order.

"Are you back to ignoring me?" Blaine asked.

"I was trying too. Why do you even want to sit here? Why don't you go play pool with Mike?"

"I'm with Mike everyday at work. And I think you're intriguing."

"Well I find you annoying."

Blaine laughed. "Oh c'mon. There's no harm in talking. I won't tell anyone so you can keep your mysterious persona at the hospital in tact. Seriously, I'm just trying to make some new friends."

Kurt sighed. "Fine. You can ask a question, that doesn't mean I'm going to answer."

Blaine grinned. "So what did you want to do before becoming a surgeon?"

"Broadway. Acting. Singing. Anything along those lines."

"Why didn't you?"

"Couldn't get any parts or gigs."

"Well then they're all crazy. I bet you have an amazing voice."

"And how would you know?"

"I have great intuition."

The waitress came back with their food and Kurt ate quickly. He pushed his plate aside when he finished and finished his drink as well. Blaine did the same and went to get them refills. He came back soon enough and sat down. The food sobered up Kurt a little so he needed to get back to where he was.

"I'm guessing you're not going to ask me any questions?" Blaine asked and nodded when Kurt remained silent. "OK, so why did you go into surgery after Broadway didn't work out?"

"I always admired it and I decided to go for a year at first to see if I would like it and I did."

Kurt finished his drink and was starting to feel the heaviness the alcohol brought on. The waitress came by to collect their plates and he ordered a round of shots and another gin and tonic and a beer for Blaine instead of walking to the bar and gave her his card to pay for his tab. She took the plates and came back a few minutes later with the drinks.

"Cheers," he said as he knocked the first one back. Blaine did the same and was definitely now starting to feel the alcohol.

"What would it take for me to get you to sing something?" Blaine asked.

"A lot. I haven't sung in ages," Kurt said.

"What if I sang with you?"

"Can you even sing?" Kurt asked as he drank from his gin and tonic.

"Did you just ask me a question?" Blaine said with a grin. "Stop the press. And yes I do sing."

Kurt passed Blaine the other shot and lifted his to his mouth and threw it back.

"So what's there to do for fun around here?" Blaine asked.

"Are you kidding me? You live in possibly one of the best cities in the world and you can't find anything fun to do?"

"Well I could. But it would be pretty boring by myself. You should come with me," Blaine said with his constant grin on his face.

Kurt laughed as he finished his drink and stood up to exit the booth not so gracefully. "Smooth, but no. Now if you'll excuse me I'll be leaving. Bye," he said and went towards the exit.

"Hey, wait, can I at least get your number?" Blaine said as he followed him outside.

"This is eerily like the first time we met and once again, no," Kurt said without turning around and hailing a cab to go home.

Blaine walked back in and saw Santana with Mike and Brittany at the bar and walked over to them.

"You look dejected," Santana said. "Where's Kurt?"

"He just went home," Blaine said as he sat down and ordered another shot for him and everyone else and also paid for his tab. They got them quickly and they all drank them quickly. Blaine stood to leave and said his goodbyes to them. He exited the bar and took a deep breath. _I shouldn't have taken that last shot, _he thought as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Santana and Brittany walked out as well and came over to him.

"Don't stress to much over Kurt," Santana said.

"I-I'm not _stressing_ over him."

"Oh please. You look like a puppy whenever you see him. And I like you; you'd be good for him. Just don't give up yet. He likes you, I think," she said and walked away.

Blaine smiled and went to catch a cab home as well.

* * *

**A/N: The Big's is another term for the major leagues in Baseball. The record I was referring too was the home run record, which A-Rod is on his way to breaking.**

**Benign tumors are no cancerous.**

**If there is anything else you need to know send it in a review. Or just leave a review anyways Hint Hint. **


	4. Treading Water

Kurt woke with an unsurprising headache the next day. He got up slowly and made his way to his kitchen to make some coffee. _I'm never drinking again_. _I know I say that every time but this time I'm for real,_ he thought as he sat down with his freshly made coffee. It was raining out so there wasn't a harsh glare from the sun in his apartment to intensify his hangover. He got up to check his phone and texted Santana to see how she was.

**'I've been better. I didn't drink all that much though. You?'**

'I feel like shit' he texted her back.

**'Do you need anything?'**

'No, thanks though. I'm probably going to sleep a little more in a few. Thanks for ditching me last night btw.'

**'Please. I know you like Blaine. You can't fool me. Auntie Tana knows all.'**

Kurt rolled his eyes and sent her a text saying she was delusional before placing his phone to charge and turning on the TV. He didn't like Blaine; well he kind of did. He sighed and finished his coffee. It had been a while since the last time he was in a relationship, almost two years. He broke off his last one because he had just started his job and there wasn't time being spent with one another and the relationship just fell apart. And with all the tragedy he had experienced in his job he just wasn't emotionally ready for one. Which was why Blaine kind of scared him. He could easily see him and Blaine in a relationship and that scared him. Sure, he acted like a dick to him but he knows he has to watch out for himself. He doesn't know Blaine, sure he may be nice but that could be an act. Ever since moving to New York and working at the hospital not only has he become reserved but also cautious of everyone. You never know anyone's intentions. He's seen and heard of a lot of pointless deaths, fights, and accidents while working in the hospital and some of them are over the stupidest things. It makes you view people differently.

But Blaine, he just seems so sincere, like he really wants to know Kurt and Kurt's not used to that; at least not anymore. _Maybe it's time I've changed that,_ he thought as he fell off to sleep.

* * *

He awoke to his phone ringing and picked it up and furrowed his brow when he saw Puck was calling him.

"Hello?" he asked when he answered.

"Kurt, my man. How are you?"

"Good. Um, not that I'm not happy you're calling and all but _why _are you calling?"

"Can't I just call up one of my best friends randomly?" he asked. During their senior year of high school Puck and Kurt got really close when they realized they had 6 out of 8 classes to go. They were inseparable, and helped each other out a lot with Puck telling all of Kurt's bullies to cool it and with Kurt helping Puck out with college and schoolwork.

Kurt remained silent and heard Puck laugh on the other side of the line, "OK, I have some business in New York and I was wondering if I can crash at your place?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's no problem. When are you coming?"

Kurt heard his doorbell ring and rolled his eyes and ended the call as he got up to answer it.

"Surprise?" Puck said when the door was open. "Whoa dude, you look like shit. Late night?"

"Yes, and what if I would have said no?"

"You wouldn't of said no," Puck said as he rolled his suitcases in.

"I could have. How long are you staying?"

"Two weeks. Figured I'd take some vacation while I'm out here. It's been a while since I've seen you. I missed you."

Kurt smiled, "I missed you too. You know where the guest room is; put your bags in there. Do you want food or anything?"

"What do you have?" he heard Puck shout from the guest room. He walked into his kitchen before realizing he didn't want to make anything. "We can order something," he said as Puck came back in the room. They agreed on Thai and sat down in the living room.

"So, what's up? I know we haven't talked in a while. Was it someone special that has you looking so dead on your feet at 5 p.m.?"

"No, it was just a shitload of gin and tonics and some shots."

"So no one special?"

"No, not really. You?"

"Yeah, remember Lauren Zizes? I ran into her the other day and we've been talking."

"Good for you man."

"What does not really mean?"

Kurt got up as the doorbell rang and paid for the food and they sat down in the kitchen to eat.

"What was that?" Kurt asked.

"You said not really?"

"Oh. There's this new guy that just transferred into the hospital."

"And? Are you hitting that?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, "No Puck."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm sick of one night stands. And I'm sick of not having been in a relationship in over a year. And I'm only just realizing that I like him. He was at the bar last night and we talked, but I think I screwed up, I haven't exactly been nice to him, when that's all he's been to me."

"Well you've had some demons in the past. Everyone does."

"Yeah. I just- it's hard."

"I know, you've told me the stories. Well some of them."

Puck was the person Kurt told everything too before Santana started working at his hospital. He was the one he called after all the deaths during surgery and he was also the one that suggested Kurt try therapy to cope with it.

"Yeah, next time I see him I'll try. It's just natural to me now, and that's not what I want."

They finished their food and moved back to the living room to watch TV and talk until Kurt decided to go back to sleep.

Kurt woke up substantially better than the day before. He stayed in bed until he heard movement outside and got up to brush his teeth before going out. He found Puck in the kitchen making pancakes and went to make some coffee.

"You work today?" Puck asked as they sat down to their breakfast.

"Yeah, I have an over night shift. I go in at 7."

"Sucks."

"Nah, I like overnights better. Not as hectic."

They finished their food before Puck went to go shower to prepare for a meeting he had. He worked for the San Francisco 49ers as a scout and was here to check out a potential draftee. Kurt decided to go to the gym in his building to kill a couple of hours and worked on his abs and then did 20 minutes of cardio which killed a good 2 hours. He went back to his apartment to shower and got dressed and got his bag prepared before leaving. He texted Puck to let him know and texted Santana to see if she was working.

** 'I'm here now. Get out at 9'**

Kurt sighed as he realized tonight would be a boring night without Santana there as he walked to his job. He walked in and went to the nurse's station to chat with Santana for a bit.

"Hey Kurt. How are you?"

"Good. Better than yesterday. Guess who's staying with me for the week."

"Got yourself a stay at home lover?"

Kurt shook his head and let out a little laugh. "Should have known you would say something like that. No, Puck's here."

"I haven't seen him in a while. We should all go out one day."

"Sounds good," he said before saying good-bye and went to change into his scrubs and see if there was anything to do. They had just finished a surgery so there was nothing to do as of yet. He made sure his beeper was on and went to the on call room and took out a book to read to kill the time.

He was lost in his book and was startled when he felt someone sit down next to him.

"Hello," Blaine said with a smile.

"Hey Blaine."

"What are you reading?"

"The Hunger Games. My nephew told me about it and it seemed interesting and I'm hooked."

"Did hell just freeze over? You're actually talking with me," Blaine said with a laugh.

"About that – "Kurt started but was interrupted by his beeper. Just as he was about to read it the door to the room burst open.

"Hummel, we need you in surgery. Patient with 2 gun shot wounds to the chest and already flat-lined once," the nurse said then ran out the room. Kurt looked at Blaine who nodded and got up quickly to leave. He washed his hands and put his mask on before going into the surgery.

* * *

"Fuck!" Kurt screamed as the man flat-lined again. "He coded," he said and began to do chest compressions. Kurt switched out as someone else took over the chest compressions to give the man some drugs to jumpstart the electrical activity in his heart. They kept at it for about 5 minutes to no avail. Kurt sighed and closed his eyes.

"Call it," he said.

"Man with two gun-shot wounds to chest pronounced dead at 12:30 A.M." one of the nurses said.

He took off his blood stained gloves and went to the locker room. He_ hated_ this part of his job. He looked down at his scrubs and saw they were covered in blood around his stomach. He knew as soon as he saw the man when he got into surgery that there was a slim chance of saving him but there's always that chance and it hurts when you don't get it. He tore his shirt off and threw it on the floor before pressing his forehead to the coolness of the locker. He took deep breaths to calm his breathing. He heard a knock and turned around to see Blaine again.

"Kurt," he started.

"What do you want?" he asked icily.

"There wasn't anything you could do to save him," he said as he walked towards him.

Kurt turned his body fully away from his locker and glared at him. "Yes there was. There always is. And I couldn't do it. He was in my hands and I couldn't save him."

"Kurt, c'mon you know-"

"Yes I knew. That doesn't mean anything. I'm not gonna _not_ help him because I already knew he was going to die. I still have to try."

Kurt walked over to the chair and sat down and ran his fingers through his sweaty hair. Blaine grabbed a shirt for Kurt and walked over to sit down next to him and held out the shirt for him.

"Thanks," Kurt said and tugged it over his head.

"You're going to be ok?"

"Yeah, I always am," Kurt smiled weakly.

"C'mon, I'll by you a Reese's," Blaine said and stood up and held his hand out to pull Kurt up.

Blaine had to go shortly after they went to the vending machine to attend to a kid that was brought in that had flu like symptoms. He said bye to Kurt and left. Kurt checked his watch to see it was almost 2 o'clock. He called Puck and luckily enough he was still awake.

"Hey man, you OK?"

"Yeah, I just needed something to distract me."

They talked for about 30 minutes before Kurt had to go do paperwork.

* * *

The rest of the night passed slowly and finally it was time to leave. He changed into his clothes after taking a shower and got his bag ready before leaving. He stepped out the room and walked right into Blaine.

"You know, I'm starting to think you're stalking me," Kurt said after he stepped away.

Blaine laughed. "No, I just wanted to know if you wanted to get breakfast or something? My treat?"

"I don't know."

"Oh c'mon. What's the worst that can happen? Don't answer that. But you'll be getting a free meal," Blaine said with puppy dog eyes and how could Kurt say no to that.

"OK."

"Yes!" Blaine said then, "Did I say that out loud?" he asked Kurt who was looking at him amusedly.

"Yeah, c'mon I want an omelet."

They walked to 7A café and got some seats outside since it was such a nice day out. They ordered their food and some coffee and handed their menus to the waiter. Kurt pulled out his sunglasses and leaned back in his chair.

"Tired?"

"Yeah, couldn't sleep after I finished the paper work."

Blaine was about to say something when Kurt's phone went off.

"Hey Puck," he said when he answered.

"Hey dude, where are you. I thought you got out at 9."

"Yeah, I'm getting breakfast. Did you need something?"

"No, I just got worried when you didn't come home right away."

"Sorry, I should have told you. I'll be home in a few," he said then hung up after saying bye.

"Sorry to keep you from your boyfriend," Blaine said unlike his usual chipper self as he sipped his coffee that came while he was on the phone.

"What? Puck's not my boyfriend. He's just crashing in my house."

Blaine brightened at that as their food came. They thanked their waiter and started eating.

"Oh my god, that was amazing," Blaine said as he patted his stomach.

"Right, why I love coming here."

"Maybe we can do it again? Or go somewhere else?"

"Blaine I-,"

"Can I be honest," Blaine said quickly. "I like you, a lot. And I understand you probably don't like me or whatever but I would still like to be friends."

"That's not it. I do like you, even though you are insufferable sometimes," he said and Blaine laughed. "I just need some time. But friends, I would like that."

Blaine grinned. "So does that mean I can get your number this time?" he asked and grabbed the bill before Kurt got a chance to and gave the waitress his credit card. "I asked you to breakfast, my treat."

"Thanks."

"So, how about that number. I still need someone to show me around the city after all."

Kurt smiled and told him his number as they exited the diner.

"Where do you live?" Kurt asked.

"Chelsea."

Kurt got a cab for Blaine and opened the door for him. "I'll see you later?" Blaine asked before he got in. Kurt nodded and Blaine smiled before closing the door.

* * *

**I hope you liked it. Idk when the next update will be. I havent written anything and finals and bday parties are coming up so I don't have much free time. Hopefully soon. Read and review :).**


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